Argomenti -- Topics
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This is the Topics section, the nucleus of this site
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Gli indici coprono il periodo che va fino ad Agosto 2005, mentre da Settembre 2005 gli Argomenti possono essere seguiti, in progressione cronologica, accedendo agli ARCHIVI (mensili) che si trovano in questa pagina, sotto l'elenco degli interventi.
I BLOG
e i
CALL FOR COMMENTS
che orbitano attorno a questa sezione

DiaBloghi
Blog di dialoghi sull'innovazione "poiesis intensive"

[25 maggio 2005]
"Rinnovare, cambiare o innovare?" è la nuova domanda apparsa in DiaBloghi!

[10 settembre 2005]
Leggi il "commento" scritto da Gavino Massidda in relazione al dialogo Cosa vuol dire che una cosa vale, e che vale poco o tanto?

BIBLIOGRAFIE
presenti in questo sito

Gli aggiornamenti nei BLOG - BLOG Updates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The evolution of the Blog 'Innovation, Risk and Governance'

( 31 Gennaio 2005 )

( scritto da Daniele Navarra Cliccare sul link per scrivere all'autore )

This essay is a round up of the themes and issues developed in the blog 'Innovation, Risk and Governance' over the past few months. It is a collection of quotes from the various posts creating the established and emergent areas of interest for the development of the ongoing discussion. For each of the aspects mentioned below, we point to the attention of the readers a series of quotes and related links which constitute what is considered as being the 'backbone' of the blog.

The quotes have been categorised following the emergent set of issues that are to be developed from now on, and in particular:

1) The innovations brought about by the information economy and society and related changes in enterprise patterns, organisation and development.

2) Issues of governance of innovation and associated risks in the area of international development, business standards and regulation.

3) The model of reference of the guiding principles actualising the transition to a globalised, multinational society and the role of technology as mobile knowledge.

Proceeding in order, therefore we would like to point ou the following about each one of the issues above.

1) The innovations brought about by the information economy and society and related changes in enterprise patterns, organisation and development.

'What is now widely known as the 'Information Society', based on the capillary diffusion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is a major influence to the changing social and economic circumstances of today's business and organisational realities. [.] Not only for the impact that their intertwined effects are likely to have on the performance of business firms, and consequently in supporting sustained economic growth, but also to benefit from the continuous drive for innovation that a better educated population can make reality in all areas of social organisation.' From: Innovation, Industry and the Role of Researchers in Italy

'Even if we cannot affirm that ICTs have been neglected by the literature on industrial innovation, it is perceived that in such literature not enough attention was given to the relationships between innovation and the information society. That is also because the methodology of these studies tends to offer a general theory on innovation whose evolution is somehow separated from history.' [.] 'Thus, in such society the dimension of responsibility is essential, and 'governing the innovation' becomes imperative.' From: ICTs, Governance and Development: understanding risks and challenges

2) Issues of governance of innovation and associated risks in the area of international development, business standards and regulation.

'Innovation is considered an essential characteristic for progress understood as social and economic development.'

'Innovations, irrespective of their source or domain, can have two effects in the contexts where they take place. One is advancing progress and the social good, say by formulating better or new processes, structures and/or syntheses which can improve living conditions of human beings and their quality of life. The other can be harm, destruction and agony. Examples of the former include advances in water management systems, coordination processes which reduce leakage of resources away from non productive uses and many applications of information technology and computing in science which, among other things, have led to the mapping of the human genome. The latter would comprise the atomic bomb, or as Francis Fukuyama and Piero Bassetti have pointed out, terrorists transforming civil airplanes into rockets.'

'Whereas in the past the main focus was on product specific and/or other 'physical' innovations, the novelty is that innovations related to intellectual property, software and services have become the most debated and controversial themes for countries adopting, implementing or renewing their legislation in relation to intellectual property and trade in services. ' From: Conceptualising Innovation: A theoretical and practical agenda

'Innovations carry with themselves an implicit or explicit element of risk. Since not only the consequences of applying new methods of thinking and doing is not predictable, thus generating risks and side effects, but also the way in which the innovation will spread, diffuse and be used is not controllable even when risk management techniques are used. Following Claudio Ciborra's extensive study 'From Control to Drift' and the forthcoming evaluation of risk in the creation of large scale information infrastructures, he explains that attempts to control risks or their occurrence generate in turn new risks and challenges that can ramify into outcomes which were neither originally thought of, nor predictable in the first place.' From: Conceptualising Risk: A theoretical and practical agenda

'I have been concerned about governance of international business standards. Here are my thoughts: The article raised issues that will become increasingly significant in defining international commerce and related exchanges. I would dichotomize the issues into human disasters and financial disasters. The human tragedies are those related to life while the financials disasters are those that do not involve life but rather financial plundering, misrepresentation or other criminal activities. I believe that both of these "disasters" will require international governance standards.' From: On the Governance of International Business Standards, a letter by Sunil Bedi

'The question of governance then takes a new shape in relation to jointly owned initiatives. It is not any longer about a dynamic rivalry between the two types (and until recently antithetic forms of governing and organising resources and activities) is not any longer a matter of appartenance to one or the other 'front' since, at in least in terms of governance, there are many growing similarities, or at least a convergence. In nuce this is about the 'commercialisation' of government and the 'social responsibilisation' of firms.' From: Conceptualising Governance: A theoretical and practical agenda

3) The model of reference of the guiding principles actualising the transition to a globalised, multinational society and the role of technology as mobile knowledge.

'The context we refer to for the term governance is necessarily global. Governance is generally understood as a broad process affecting the collective decision-making roles and procedures, management and authority relationships amongst social and economic agents involving multiple jurisdictions and domains. In each of these, there is a divergence of opinion, knowledge and information which limit the options available to each party to reach the optimal (decision, investment, choice, strategy, .) and therefore second best procedures (or contracts) are used to reach agreement. Governance is about governing and therefore cannot be isolated from the notion of political responsibility in all areas in which delegated authority performs decision-making.' From: Conceptualising Governance: A theoretical and practical agenda

The challenges that these technologies pose are wide ranging and need to be addressed in consideration of at least the following elements:

- the decision-making structure in relation to the development, introduction and diffusion of these technologies on a large scale;
- the governance arrangements between the partners involved in their production, utilisation and delivery; and
- the communication of the responsibility for sharing risks and side-effects in case things go wrong.

'The lack of specific regulatory guidelines or disclosure obligations combined with the absence of standards is what furtherance the difficulty of dealing with the unsettling uncertainties that such innovation produces. Biotechnologies are also posing similar challenges, and although their promises are fascinating to address issues of famine and undernutrition in developing countries there is still great uncertainty in relation to their pharmacological, nutritional and quality benefits.' From: Bio- & Nano-Technology: who should decide and who will pay?


In conclusion, the relationship between the information society and innovation needs to be looked at in relation to the dynamic elements of such society within established structures and agencies of the economy. Networked communication as much as bio- and nano-technologies are a characteristic of such society. In particular for their convergence towards a pattern of co-evolving ecosystems, blurring to a certain extent the definitions of the separated areas in which these innovations evolve and take place over time. New patterns of risk are also emerging as a result, and the processes and structures of these innovations are global, not only for the reality of their interconnectedness, but also for the feeling that such risks generate on an otherwise unrelated congregation of individuals and organisations. Greater democratic participation in the process of cooperation to reach societal objectives over the long term could be desirable. As Piero Bassetti has highlighted in his lecture at the London School of Economics [*]: 'research and discovery are not the same thing as innovation. A discovery becomes innovation only when the increase in "knowledge" implicit in every discovery becomes technology and actuating power (that is, social capital) that the discovery implements'.

[*] Please click here to see the full text of Piero Bassetti's lecture at the London School of Economics

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Call for Comments sulle tesi di Daniel Callahan:
Le implicazioni dell'innovazione nel settore sanitario: una medicina impossibile?

Call for Comments about Daniel Callahan's thesis: The implications of innovation in the health field: false hopes for medicine?

( 26 Gennaio 2005 )

( scritto da Redazione FGB Cliccare sul link per scrivere all'autore )

Inizia oggi il Call for Comments di cui all'annuncio del 18 gennaio.

PARTECIPATE !!!

(fare clic sul link)

Today begins the Call for Comments announced on 24th January.

TAKE PART in it !!!

(click on the link)

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Lecture di Daniel Callahan e connesso Call for Comments -- Daniel Callahan lecture and Call for Comments [24 Jan 05]

( 18 Gennaio 2005 )

( scritto da Redazione FGB Cliccare sul link per scrivere all'autore )

This Notice in English [24 Jan 2005]

La Fondazione Bassetti è impegnata sul fronte della sensibilizzazione e della ricerca di nuove procedure che permettano di prendere decisioni difficili con formule innovative di partecipazione democratica (vedi, in questo sito -- www.fondazionebassetti.org -- il Seminario, il Call for comments e i Risultati del progetto di ricerca "Partecipazione Pubblica e Governance dell'Innovazione").

Col Call for Comments che avvieremo tra qualche giorno la questione delle buone pratiche della governance si ripropone in un ambito che ne mette in rilevanza l'aspetto eticamente ed epistemologicamente impegnativo.

E' in questa prospettiva che la FGB organizza quest'anno, nell'ambito della serie di Lecture promosse con cadenza annuale in collaborazione con le più prestigiose istituzioni universitarie milanesi, una conferenza di Daniel Callahan.

Su invito della Fondazione, Callahan terrà una Lecture presso l'Università Cattolica di Milano lunedì 21 febbraio 2005 sul tema "The implications of innovation in the health field".

In preparazione della Lecture di Callahan, invitiamo a partecipare al Call for Comments di imminente avvio con vostre riflessioni, dubbi e commenti sul tema e sulle questioni che esso suscita.

Il dibattito sarà moderato da Cristina Grasseni, che ne gestirà l'andamento e la conclusione.

Prevediamo di sviluppare la discussione sino a fine febbraio.


In English

The Bassetti Foundation is actively engaged in seeking new procedures that enable difficult decisions to be made using innovative formulae for democratic participation and in raising awareness of this issue (please refer, in this site - www.fondazionebassetti.org - to the Seminar [in Italian], Call for Comments [in Italian] and Results of the research project on "Public Participation and the Governance of Innovation").

With the Call for Comments we will be launching in a few days time the question of good practice in governance is addressed once again in a context that highlights the difficult ethical and epistemological aspects of the issue.

It is in this light that the FGB is organising a lecture by Daniel Callahan this coming February, as part of a series of Lectures promoted each year in collaboration with Milan's most distinguished universities and academic institutions.

At the Foundation's invitation, Callahan will be giving a lecture at the Università Cattolica di Milano on Monday 21 February 2005 on "The Implications of Innovation in the Health Field".

In preparation for Callahan's lecture, we invite you to take part in the Call for Comments that is shortly to be opened by sending us your thoughts, concerns and comments on this subject and the questions it raises.

The debate, its progress and conclusion will be moderated and overseen by Cristina Grasseni.

We expect the discussion to run until the end of February.

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